AUBURN HILLS, Michigan (Ticker) -- Rasheed Wallace scored 24
points as the Portland Trail Blazers snapped out of their worst
slump of the season with a gutty 99-94 victory over the Detroit
Pistons.

Wallace went 8-of-12 from the field and 7-of-10 from the line
and grabbed seven rebounds for Portland, which snapped a
season-high three-game losing streak and won for just the second
time in six games overall.

The contest featured 14 ties and 17 lead changes, the last of
which came when Scottie Pippen buried a 3-pointer to put the
Blazers in front, 90-88, with 2:26 to play. Wallace and Pippen
combined to make four free throws down the stretch as the
Blazers beat the Pistons for the ninth time in 11 meetings.

"When the gorilla gets on your back, when they start mounting up
in the loss column, whether you play well or not, normally we
figure if we play good, it'll turn into a victory," Portland
coach Mike Dunleavy said.

"If we lose one when we play good, it doesn't usually hurt us,"
he added. "But lately, we'd hit a stretch where we didn't play
well. I really wanted to get this one. I shortened my rotation
and did things I don't usually do. You don't want to go
0-for-4. It was a decision I had to make tonight."

Coach George Irvine got his first taste of defeat in three games
since taking over for the fired Alvin Gentry on Monday as his
team failed to execute in crunch time.

"I probably didn't use our bench quite enough," Irvine said. "We
had an opportunity to win against a very, very good team, who
had lost three in a row. They came in here with the idea of
winning and we battled them. I know we can play better and we
will."

"I think I probably should have gone in there to try and dunk
it," he said. "But that happens. Portland played well, they
executed down the stretch. We played well. If we play that way
the rest of the way, we'll be fine. It's a tough one to lose,
though."

Jerry Stackhouse added 22 points for Detroit, which had its lead
for seventh place in the Eastern Conference shaved to one-half
game over the surging Orlando Magic.

The Pistons completed their back-to-back title run by knocking
off the Blazers in the 1989-90 NBA Finals. Tonight at halftime,
they celebrated the triumph with a special ceremony, featuring
former coach Chuck Daly, point guard Isiah Thomas, forward Bill
Laimbeer, shooting guard Vinny Johnson and some of the other
"Bad Boys."

Detroit had beaten up on two of the NBA's worst road teams,
Denver and Vancouver, here in Irvine's first two games at the
helm. But it was obvious from the outset tonight that the
Blazers were not interested in keeping the interim coach's
record clean.

Pippen scored 18 points and Bonzi Wells added 12 off the bench
for Portland, which shot 48 percent (35-of-73), held a 41-36
rebounding edge and tied the Los Angeles Lakers for the league's
most road wins at 23. The Blazers moved within four games of
the Lakers for the NBA's best record.

"You get a little concerned, you don't want to lose (four) in a
row," Pippen said. "For a team that was challenging the Lakers
for the best record, it gets a little frustrating. We want to
continue to put the heat on them."

Wallace hit all four of his shots in the opening 12 minutes as
the Blazers roared to a 21-17 lead after one quarter. Hill made
7-of-8 shots in the first half and pulled Detroit within 44-43
at the break before the teams engaged in a back-and-forth
struggle.

Terry Mills hit an 18-footer and Laettner was good from 19 feet
to open the third period as Detroit pulled ahead, 47-44. But
Pippen quickly responded with a 26-footer on the other end,
setting the tempo for the rest of the game.

Second-year center Mikki Moore grabbed temporary control of the
contest late in the third period, scoring seven points during a
9-2 burst as the Pistons jumped in front, 68-61, on his layup
with 40 seconds left in the period.

But Wallace answered with an emphatic slam, drawing a foul from
Moore and hitting the ensuing free throw to cut the deficit to
four entering the final period.

"It's encouraging that we played them so close," Moore said. "We
have to look at the game as a stepping stone and work on
everything come Monday (against Boston). We can't dwell on this
game, because we can't bring it back."

Stackhouse drained a 3-pointer and Hill followed with a layup to
give Detroit a 75-69 cushion with 9:14 to play. Portland
responded with a 12-4 run, taking an 81-79 lead on Detlef
Schrempf's 3-pointer with 5:35 left.

Mills made a runner and Laettner hit a free throw to put Detroit
back on top, but Wallace made 1-of-2 at the stripe and answered
Hill's layup with one of his own to forge an 84-84 tie with 3:50
left.

"Did you see him? He fell off, the gorilla," Schrempf said.
"Now we have to win tomorrow (at Washington) and make this road
trip somewhat acceptable. It's not the losses, it's the way
we've been playing. If we play as hard tomorrow as we did
today, we'll be OK and we can build on that."